2 Kings 21 | Manasseh’s Legacy of Evil

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Transcript

Charlie Mitchell 0:01

You're listening to the Dope Daily Audio Bible, and I'm your guide, Pastor Charlie Mitchell. And today, we're looking at II Kings chapter 21. Let's roll. Manasseh was 12 years old when he became king, and he reigned 55 years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Hefsebah. he did what was evil in the Lord's sight, imitating the detestable practices of the nations that the Lord had dispossessed before the Israelites. He built the high places that his father Hezekiah had destroyed and established the altars for Baal. He made Nashara as King Ahab of Israel had done. He also bowed down and worshiped to all the stars in the sky and served them. He built altars in the Lord's temple where the Lord had said, "Jerusalem is where I will put my name." He built altars to all the stars in the sky, in both courtyards of the Lord's temple. He sacrificed his son in the fire, practiced witchcraft and divination, and consulted mediums and spiritists. he did a huge amount of evil in the Lord's sight, angering Him. Manasseh set up the carved image of Asherah. which he made in the temple that the Lord had spoken about to David and his son Solomon. "I will establish my name forever in this temple and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel. I will never again cause the feet of the Israelites to wander from the land I gave to their ancestors if only they will be careful to do all I have commanded them, the whole law that my servant Moses commanded them." But they did not listen. Manasseh caused them to stray, so they did worse evil than the nations the Lord had destroyed before the Israelites. the Lord said through his servants, the prophets, "Since King Manasseh of Judah has committed all these detestable acts, worse evil than the Amorites who preceded him had done, and by means of his idols has also caused Judah to sin." This is what the Lord God of Israel says, I am going to bring such a disaster on Jerusalem and Judah that everyone who hears about it will shudder. I will stretch over Jerusalem the measuring line used on Samaria and the mason's level used on the house of Ahab, and I will wipe Jerusalem clean as one wipes a bowl, wiping and turning it upside down. I will abandon the remnant of my inheritance and hand them over to their enemies. they will become plunder and spoil to all their enemies because they have done what is evil in my sight and have angered me from the day their ancestors came out of Egypt until today. Manasseh also shed so much innocent blood that he filled Jerusalem with it from one end to another. this was in addition to his sin that he caused Judah to commit so that they did what was evil in the Lord's sight. The rest of the events of Manasseh's reign, along with all his accomplishments and the sin that he committed, are written in the historical record of Judah's kings. Manasseh rested with his ancestors and was buried in the garden of his own house, the Garden of Uzza. His son, Amon, became king in his place. Amon was twenty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned two years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Meshullamoth, daughter of Haruz; she was from Jotbah. He did what was evil in the Lord's sight, just as his father Manasseh had done. He walked in all the ways his father had walked. He served the idols his father had served, and he bowed in worship to them. He abandoned the Lord God of his ancestors and did not walk in the ways of the Lord. Ammon's servants conspired against him and put the king to death in his own house. The common people killed all who had conspired against King Ammon, and they made his son Josiah king in his place. The rest of the events of Ammon's reign, along with his accomplishments, are written in the historical record of Judah's kings. He was buried in his tomb in the garden of Uzza, and his son Josiah became king in his place. Let's pray Jesus, I pray that we remember that you are full of mercy. You call us to walk in your ways because you know they lead to life and health and wellbeing. We see what happens when people continually turn away from you. One compromise leads to another, and over time, hearts begin to grow farther and farther away from you. So Lord, I pray that you guard us from that kind of drifting. Help us to not ignore your voice, justify our sin, or grow comfortable with things that pull us away from you. I pray that you would search our hearts today. Show us anything that is competing for your place in our lives, and thank you. Thank you, Jesus, that your grace is greater than any of our failures. No matter how far we veer off the road, you still call us back and go after us. So I pray that you'd give us hearts that will be quick to repent, quick to listen, and eager to follow after you. We pray all of this in Jesus' name. Amen.